Syria News – Syrian army closing in on Salaheddin

Special units of the Syrian army closed the circle they have established around the area of Salaheddin where terrorists have created a base being used to penetrate into the city of Aleppo.
Most people in area, more than 300,000 people, have fled their homes and moved to safer quarters or left the city entirely.

According to the SANA news agency, the Syrian troops are engaged in surgical strikes on terrorist hiding places and on the positions held by the insurgents to avoid damage and civilian casualties.

There are reports of attempted armed incursions into Syria by terrorist groups.

Foreign Minister Walid Moallem demanded that the Lebanese authorities clamp down on groups that are transferring weapons and fighters to Syria.

Algeria helps Syrian refugees

More than 12,000 Syrians have asked for political asylum in Algeria since the beginning of the civil war in Syria.

According to the France Press Agency, which refers to a source in the Algerian foreign ministry, Algeria has decided to grant these people political asylum and provide them with some further help.

Syrian refugees in Algeria are being placed in schools that are emptyinsummer.

However, the Syrian opposition estimates the number of Syrian refugees in Algeria as 20,000, and some media sources even name the figure of 23,000.

Turkish secret camp trains anti-Assad rebels – source

Clashes between the Syrian army and rebels in northern city of Aleppo have resumed on Sunday morning.

Lebanon`s Al-Manar TV has reported citing Reuters that a secret camp was set up in Turkish town of Adan, 100 km away from Syria, where future members of the so-called People`s Liberation Army are being trained by Turkish and Qatari coaches to fight against the Assad regime.

Not far from the camp there is Turkish Indzhirlik military base where NATO keeps its aircraft and cruise missiles.

Annan concerned over Aleppo violence

The UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has called on international leaders to join efforts to solve the crisis in Syria, which, he believes, could be settled only through political reforms.

Mr. Annan expressed his concerns over violence in Aleppo, where clashes between the army and the opposition have intensified in recent days.

Lavrov dismisses Bashar refuge talk

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has dismissed foreign reports that Russia is prepared to grant asylum to Bashar Assad as a deliberate provocation aimed at portraying Russia and China as the main culprits in the ongoing crisis in Syria.

Russia and China, he said in Moscow Saturday, spare no effort to bring about a political settlement in Syria, and their vetoes on the Western-tabled Security Council resolutions on Syria were intended to wreck attempts to legitimize outside support of the Syrian opposition.

He also said that at planned talks with Syrian opposition leaders Moscow will try to persuade them to choose between an outright revolution and an orderly settlement based on appropriate resolutions of the UN Security Council. These two approaches don’t mix, the Russian Minister argued.